D Magazine Names Best Lawyers in Dallas for 2011

June 6, 2011

Dallas, Texas - The law firm of Gray Reed & McGraw is pleased to congratulate Tom Rhodus, Ruth Ann Daniels and Greg Sampson for their inclusion in D Magazine's "Best Lawyers in Dallas 2011" list, which is featured in the magazine's June issue.

Beginning his practice with seven years of experience as a trial attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Tom Rhodus is an expert in navigating the confusing landscape of federal regulation and law enforcement. Combining his experience in government and private practice, Tom has taught courses in federal tax procedure as an adjunct professor at SMU's Dedman School of Law for over 25 years. Tom has also been privileged to represent some of the largest physician groups in Texas on an on-going basis in the numerous business, tax and regulatory issues that arise in their practices. He routinely represents clients in civil and criminal matters stemming from examinations conducted by the IRS, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal and state agencies. He has tried numerous cases the United States District Courts, the U.S. Tax Court, and the state courts.

Ruth Ann Daniels heads up the firm's Employment Law Section for both Dallas and Houston. Ruth Ann has been a trial lawyer for more than twenty-five years and focuses on employment litigation for management, defending companies against claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour violations under various federal and state statutes, including Title VII (protecting employees from unlawful employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. Ruth Ann also has been involved in defending multi-party and class action litigation matters and handling audits by the Department of Labor, particularly with respect to wage and hour claims made under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Greg Sampson is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning and estate administration, probate matters, trusts, executive compensation, and asset protection planning. Mr. Sampson has extensive experience in counseling clients on wealth transfers, including estate and gift tax planning, charitable planning, retirement planning, estate and trust management, family asset management and business succession planning. He has written and conducted seminars on various estate planning topics, including the impact of the minimum distribution rules on estate planning with retirement benefits, asset protection planning, fiduciary duties under powers of attorney, Texas' new Prudent Investor Act and Principal and Income Act, and advanced directives and end-of-life decision making.

D Magazine based its selection of the "Best Lawyers in Dallas 2011" on an extensive peer review process. The editors of D Magazine mailed a letter to 8,800 local lawyers inviting them to nominate up to three lawyers from their practice specialty, one from their own firm, and up to two from an outside firm. Self-nominations were excluded, and votes for in-house colleagues were given less weight. D Magazine asked lawyers to base their selections on personal experience with their nominees. Approximately 1,400 lawyers voted using a secure online ballot, and D Magazine presented the tallied results to an anonymous panel of lawyers for review and evaluation. The 372 finalists were ultimately selected by the panel and the D Magazine editorial staff based on the final number of votes in each of the 18 specialties.

About Gray Reed & McGraw

Founded in 1985, Gray Reed & McGraw is a full-service, Texas based law firm with more than 100 lawyers practicing in Houston, Dallas and Tyler. Gray Reed & McGraw offers a wide range of legal services including business litigation, corporate transactions, oil & gas, tax planning and litigation, real estate, healthcare, trusts and estates, employment law, family law, and bankruptcy. For more information, visit www.grayreed.com.